Cap for concrete pilings



Jan. 29, 1963 A. E. BECKER ETAL 3,075,358

CAP FOR CONCRETE PILINGs Filed July 31, 1959 .iai Patented dan. 29, i9533,075,358 CAP FR CNCRETE PHMNGS August E. Becker, Belleville, and SamWilleford, (laklawn, lll., assignors to Sterling Steel @tasting Co.,Monsanto, ill., a corporation o Illinois Filed lluly 31, 1959, Ser. No.839,805 2 Claims. (Ci. 61--539 This invention relates to a cap forconcrete pilings and in particular it is concerned with a cap having aspecial bead, or what may be termed a lug configuration, whereby the capmay be screwed into tight frictional engagement with the helicalconvolutions of the conc-rete piling tubing.

Concrete piling has been much used in the construction industry. ln use,the concrete piling to which this invention refers is in the form ofsheet metal tubing having helical convolutions thereon, said tubingbeing conventionally known as helcor tubing. This tubing is providedwith a cap at the end which is generally ilanged over and welded as inthe form of a sleeve at the end of the tubing and then filled withconcrete. The caps .in the past have been diilicult to attach to theends of the tubing and in such operations there has been an extensiveamount of time and labor involved in such attachments. in some cases thecap would Work loose and the operation was ruined.

By means of the instant invention there has been provided a cap for suchtubing which will be herein after called helical tubing. This cap has aspecial bead construction arranged on an internal rim of a hat base andwhich is designed to mate with the helical grooves on the tubing. Thebeads are of a particular construction such that in the operation ofsecuring the cap to the tubing the trailing edge of the bead is designedto closely mate with the groove, while the leading edge falls gentlyaway from a mating relationship. By means of this constructionmanufacturing tolerances can be compensated for and, due to thedeformable construction of the steel tubing, the cap can be forced intomating relationship with the tubing so that the tubing forms around thebead and the grooves in the tubing mate with the beads on the cap.

As a further feature of this invention the beads are arranged on the capon an internal rim, which provides support at the end of the tubing, andthe entire cap can be driven into frictional engagement by means ofstriking notches provided in the periphery of the base of the capagainst which a tool may be placed and struck forcefully to cause theproper threading into the tubing.V

It is accordingly a primary object of this invention to provide a capfor helical tubing having a bead construction which is designed to matewith the helical grooves on the tubing and to compensate formanufacturing tolerances.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cap for helical tubingin which the cap has beads provided on an internal wall of the cap, saidbeads being designed on one edge to mate with a portion of the groovesand on another side falling gently away from the mating relationship sothat the cap may be forced into frictional engagement with the beadsmating with the grooves and deforming the tubing for proper matingrelationship.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a cap for helicaltubing having a iiat base and a cylindrical rim with beads provided on amarginal portion of the base and the exterior of the rim whereby the capmay be forced into frictional relationship with the beads mating at thehelical grooves on the tubing.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a cap for helicaltubing in which the cap has a flat base Z and a cylindrical rim withbeads provided on the marginal area of the base and the rim and withstriking means on the periphery of the base whereby the cap may bepounded into frictional engagement with the tubing.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide a cap for helicaltubing which can be simply cast into the 4desired conguration and whichcan be employed by relatively unskilled workmen with a minimum of timeand labor involved in the connection to the tubing.

Further objects of this invention will appear in the detaileddescription which follows and will be further apparent to those skilledin the art.

For the purpose of illustration of this invention there is shown in theaccompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof. It is to beunderstood that these illustrations are for the purpose of example onlyand that the invention is not limited thereto.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a bottom plan view of the cap of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view in elevation of the cap showing the beadconfiguration;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view in section taken on the line 3 3 of FIGUREl showing a cutout notch in the periphery of the base or" the cap usedas a striking means;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged View in section taken on the line 4 4 or FIGUREl showing the bead construction and its attachment to the rim and themarginal area of the base;

FIGURE 5 is a view in elevation of the end or" a section of helicaltubing with the cap attached to it and tacked in place by weldments; and

FlGURE 6 is an enlarged View in section taken on the line 6 6 of FGURE 5showing the rriatinfy relationship of the beads on the cap with thehelical convolutions of the tubing.

In the drawings the cap is generally indicated by the reference numerallil and the helical tubing in which it is secured at the end isindicated by the numeral 1l. |lhe tubing, which is conventionally knownas helcor tubing, has a plurality ot grooves in the form of helicalconvolutions indicated by the numeral 1.2, best shown in FIG- URES 5 and6, which provides for rigidity and strength of the tubing in the piledriving operation so as to minimize collapse.

The cap, as best shown in FIGURES 1 4, is comprised of a dat base i3. Avertically upstanding rim M circles the base and is spaced from theperiphery of the base to define a marginal area i6. Notches i7 are.provided in the periphery of the base and have a perpendicular side i8to serve as a striking means when a tool is placed thereagainst andforcefully hit to cause the proper engagement with the tubing as will behereinafter described.

The bead or lug construction is best shown in FIG- URES 1, 2 and 4. Thebeads are generally indicated by the reference numeral 20 and, aspreviously mentioned, are of a special construction so as to mate on oneside with the grooves i2 in the tubing. The beads are bulbous inconfiguration and, as will be noted in FIGURE Z and also in FIGURE 6,have a leading edge 2i which is steeper than the trailing edge 22. Asshown in FIGURE 6 the leading edge 21 falls gently away from the side ofthe helical groove l2 while the trailing edge 22 tends to mate with theother portion of the face of the groove 12. rThis relationship providesfor optimum mating relation and compensates for manufacturingirnperiections whereby the cap may be readily fastened to the end of thetubing.

spaanse 3 Use The use of the cap in its attachment to the end of the-tubing is extremely simple. In this operation the cap is taken andapplied to the end of the tubing in the relationship shown in FiGURE andmoved in the direction of the arrow, i.e., in the direction of thehelical convolution. This causes a preliminary threading of the beadsinto the helical convolutions. It will be readily appreciated that indealing with metal constructions of this type in the field where thetubing is subject to rough wear some bending and malformation of thetubing is inevitable. The construction of the beads compensates for suchoccur- After the initial threading of the cap into engagement the cap isthen forced into further engagement by taking a tool, such as a hammer,and striking it against the striking surface 1S in the notches 17. Thisforceful operation causes the leading edge 21 to bear against the innersurface of the helical grooves l2. The trailing surface 2.2 of the beadis in close alignment in mating relation with the corresponding face ofthe helical grooves and follows closely along. Repeated pounding, due tothe somewhat deformable nature of the tubing, will tend to force the capand the beads into full mating relationship with the helical grooves.The particular construction of the leading face of the bead 21 wherebyit falls gently away from full mating relationship with the grooves f2provides for the proper securement of the cap to the tubing. If theleading edge were in full mating relationship it can be appreciated thatmanufacturing tolerances would be dicult to maintain and would bar theproper attachment of the cap to the tubing where such imperfectionsexisted as would be normally encountered and particularly in the iieldwhere rough wear is the rule rather than the exception.

Once the cap has been fully forced into relationship the end of thetubing will bear against the margin 16 of the cap. Also, the rim 14 willtend to bear against the inner faces of the grooves, as best shown inFIGURE 6, and will provide support for the end of the cap against anytendency to collapse at this point. The cap, when attached as justdescribed, will be in full frictional engagement and for many purposescan be considered to be locked in place. However, to insure vtheengagement of the cap of the tubing, weldments may be made as shown inFIGURES 5 and 6. These weldments, to give full sealing of the cap toprevent water leakage where such protection is desired, may be extendedin the form of a continuous weldment completely around the periphery ofthe junction of the cap and the end of the tubing.

By virtue of the above described construction `of the cap, there hasbeen provided a very simply constructed structure which can be attachedto a helical tubing in a minimum of time and eort. The attachment of thecap to the tubing is very strong and through the provision ofadaptability to meet manufacturing tolerances through the constructionof the beads there has been provided a cap structure which can 4beusedundereld operations by relatively unskilled personnel.

Various changes and modications may be made witbin this invention aswill be -readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes andmodifications are withinthe scope and teaching of this invention vasdencd by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A cap for tubing having helical convoluted grooves on the innerperiphery of said tubing, said cap comprising a flat base, a verticalcircularly shaped r-im attached to said base and defining a marginalborder between the rim and the periphery of said base and a plurality ofbeads fastened to said rim and the margin of the base at the juncture ofthe rim and the margin of said base, said beads extending from the basevertically upon the exterior of the rim to substantiaily the top thereofand said beads having a bulbous configuration tapering from a largestdimension adjacent said base to a smallest dimension adjacent the upperedge of said rim and the leading surface of each bead having arelatively steeper slope than the trailing surface, whereby said cap maybe screwed into tight frictional engagement with an end of the tubingwith each bead mating with an individual groove on a trailing surfaceand falling gently away from mating relation with the groove on aleading surface.

2. A cap for semi-rigid metal tubing having helical convoluted grooveson the inner periphery of said tubing, said cap being of metal andcomprised of a flat circular base, a vertical circularly shaped rirnattached concentrically to said base inwardly of the base periphery to`dene a marginal area, said rim being closely nestable within saidtubing with the margin of the base extending over the end of the tubing,a plurality of beads provided on the exterior of the rim and the marginof the base at the juncture of the rim and the margin of the base, saidbeads having a bulbous configuration tapering from a largest dimensionadjacent said base to a smallest dimension adjacent the upper edge ofsaid rim and the leading surface of each bead having a relativelysteeper slope than the trailing surface, adapted to mate with anindividual groove on a trailing surface and fall gently away from matingrelation with the groove on a leading surface and said base beingprovided with a striking means on the margin of the base comprising anotch on the periphery of said base whereby said cap may be screwed intotight frictional engagement with an end of the tubing by strikingagainst said striking means.

whereby each bead is References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS

1. A CAP FOR TUBING HAVING HELICAL CONVOLUTED GROOVES ON THE INNERPERIPHERY OF SAID TUBING, SAID CAP COMPRISING A FLAT BASE, A VERTICALCIRCULARLY SHAPED RIM ATTACHED TO SAID BASE AND DEFINING A MARGINALBORDER BETWEEN THE RIM AND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID BASE AND A PLURALITY OFBEADS FASTENED TO SAID RIM AND THE MARGIN OF THE BASE AT THE JUNCTURE OFTHE RIM AND THE MARGIN OF SAID BASE, SAID BEADS EXTENDING FROM THE BASEVERTICALLY UPON THE EXTERIOR OF THE RIM TO SUBSTANTIALLY THE TOP THEREOFAND SAID BEADS HAVING A BULBOUS CONFIGURATION TAPERING FROM A LARGESTDIMENSION ADJACENT SAID BASE TO A SMALLEST DIMENSION ADJACENT THE UPPEREDGE OF SAID RIM AND THE LEADING SURFACE OF EACH BEAD HAVING ARELATIVELY STEEPER SLOPE THAN THE TRAILING SURFACE, WHEREBY SAID CAP MAYBE SCREWED INTO TIGHT FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH AN END OF THE TUBINGWITH EACH BEAD MATING WITH AN INDIVIDUAL GROOVE ON A TRAILING SURFACEAND FALLING GENTLY AWAY FROM MATING RELATION WITH THE GROOVE ON ALEADING SURFACE.